Asthma in the Urgent Care Setting

Contemporary Clinic®spoke with Tiffany Budzinski, FNP-BC, about asthma management in the urgent care setting, specifically with the emergence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Budzinski has seen access to primary care decline, with many patients not wanting to wait for a visit to their primary care physician, causing an increase in the management of patients with asthma in urgent and retail care clinics.

Budzinski mentioned the flexibility for practitioners to increase or decrease their patients’ treatment options based on their evaluation of the patient, using tools such as the step approach and asthma guidelines from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

The COVID-19 pandemic is respiratory-focused and can cause severe complications for those with asthma, and Budzinski explained the possible implications for patients who smoke or have other respiratory diseases.

“There is no higher risk of becoming infected if you have asthma, but if you have asthma history, if you become infected, you have the possibility for more severe COVID-19 infections,” Budzinski said.

Budzinski also discussed World Asthma Day, the evolution of asthma treatments, and how patients can manage their asthma with the beginning of allergy season in full swing.